As the events of Sept 11. unfolded in New York, an Eastern alumnus and a former Reserved Officers Training Corps instructor saw the action at the Pentagon.

An Eastern alumnus, Lt. Col. James Ashworth, who graduated in 1984, works in the Navy Annex and witnessed the attack. Also, listed as missing and presumed dead is former ROTC instructor Lt. Col. Canfield Boone.

Boone taught the basic military science classes from 1988 to 1991.

Lt. Col. Boone’s office was 15 feet from the impact site, said Katie Deitelhoff-Reide, an Eastern alumna who is now assistant principal at Central Junior High in New Lenox, in an e-mail.

Instructors rotate out of the ROTC program every three years, which is why Boone only taught at the university for three years, said Missy Carey, ROTC cadet administrator.

Boone will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, Deitelhoff-Reide said

“We definitely lost a great man with a huge heart,” she said.

Deitelhoff-Reide had Boone for the basic military science courses.

“He appeared very laid back but never accepted anything but the best from his students,” she said. “He was always there to help, in the classroom or out in the field.”

Boone is remembered as someone who was always pleasant, Carey said. “He was just a really good person,” she said.

Carey said her e-mail has been inundated with messages regarding Boone from former students.

A group of Boone’s former students is planning to go to the military funeral in Washington, Carey said.

“The reality of this entire situation has hit even closer to home now that a known name is on the list of non-survivors,” Deitelhoff-Riede said.

When the plane crashed into the Pentagon, Ashworth and some coworkers were in a conference room watching CNN’s coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center towers. He said they realized it was a terrorist attack when the second plane hit the second building.

The Navy Annex is a quarter of a mile away from the Pentagon, and the plane “flew over our building before it hit the Pentagon,” Ashworth said.

Ashworth said they were watching the coverage when the building shook.

“Our building shook a little bit, and the windows rattled,” he said.

Within 10 seconds, fire alarms went off, and the building was evacuated, Ashworth said.

They immediately knew what had happened. Witnesses saw the plane within 50 feet before it hit, he said.

Ashworth said he and his coworkers hurried to the scene to see what happened and how they could help. By the time the got to within 100 feet of the building, word had been received that a fourth plane had been hijacked and was heading to a target in Washington, he said.

The area was already being sealed off for investigation. Search and rescue vehicles were present, and witnesses were being interviewed, he said.

It is now known that the fourth plane is the one that crashed in Pennsylvania.

The area was evacuated and sealed off, and no one could leave because they could not access the parking lots. Ashworth stayed on the scene until about 3 p.m.

Security has been a bigger issue since the attack, he said.

“There is a lot of emphasis right now on physical security in our building,” Ashworth said.

There has also been a focus on finding ways to help.

“It’s a very tough situation,” he said. “People’s lives will be vastly altered, there’s no doubt.”

Ashworth, who graduated from Eastern with a degree in accounting as well as with commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and went into the military rather than accounting. He was a member of Delta Sigma Pi, a business fraternity, for three years and president his senior year.

Originally from Mt. Zion, Ashworth said he moved 16 times before his present position in Washington. He moved through the ranks and is now lieutenant colonel.

Ashworth entered the ROTC program at Eastern in 1981, its first year of existence after the Vietnam War. He said during the Vietnam War, many ROTC programs were canceled.

Ashworth works in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, which is working to build a defensive shield for incoming ballistic missiles. He said he worked for 11 years in field artillery.